Radomski's name carries weight, By: Christian Red

April 30th 2007

When he first worked out with Kirk Radomski at the World Gym in Hampton Bays, L.I., about four years ago, Tim Fennelly says it was well known around the facility that Radomski had a side business of selling legal supplements to gym rats.

"Stuff you get at GNC, Kirk would sell to you for cheaper. Whey, things like that," Fennelly told the Daily News yesterday at Classic Beverage, which he co-owns on Montauk Highway.

But Fennelly says that Radomski also "left the door open" to him and others to buy something with a little extra kick. Those substances were "steroids or performance-enhancing substances - I never took him up on the offer," Fennelly says.

Radomski pleaded guilty Friday to money laundering and distributing steroids to "dozens" of professional baseball players starting in 1995. For the prior 10 years, Radomski worked as a clubhouse attendant and batboy for the Mets.

When he read Radomski's name in newspapers Saturday in connection with the guilty plea in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Fennelly says he did not make the immediate connection to his workout partner.

"I knew him as Kirk and he'd call me 'Timmy,'" says Fennelly. "I'm totally shocked."

As for bold-faced names who might have been Radomski's clients, Fennelly says he never heard him mention any players.

"He was a nice guy, always friendly," Fennelly says.

A member at Planet Fitness in Hampton Bays (formerly the World Gym where Radomski worked out), who asked not to be identified, says he remembers Radomski boasting last summer that he trained with professional baseball and football players. The member says Radomski "charged a ridiculous amount of money" as a personal trainer.

The Planet Fitness member described Radomski as "rich" and Fennelly added that Radomski had "a beautiful Lexus."

A source who knew Radomski told The News that the steroid business boomed for him in late 2003, when the BALCO offices were raided and a major West Coast steroid supply line was eliminated.

Fennelly says he still works out at Planet Fitness and also uses Ultimate Fitness East in Riverhead. Radomski had purchased a membership to Ultimate and worked out there as recently as March 30. An Ultimate employee, Mike Carrozza, says he remembers Radomski.

"He lifted weights, did cardio," Carrozza says. "But I never saw him training anybody or work with any players or famous athletes."

Ulimate's head trainer, Frank Zagarino, says he did not recognize Radomski's name, but was adamant that no steroid use or dealing took place at Ultimate.

"This is one of the cleanest gyms I've ever been to and that's after 20 years working in California. I saw people injecting each other all the time there," Zagarino says. "But I've never caught anybody using at Ultimate and I've never heard anybody say, 'Can you get me this?' If the owners of Ultimate heard some member was dealing or using, they'd kick them out so fast it would make your head spin."